Published: Tuesday, November 6, 2012 at 7:20 a.m.

Last Modified: Tuesday, November 6, 2012 at 9:14 a.m.

Check back tonight for live returns

Long lines and electronic glitches slowed the final vote counts from Volusia County on Tuesday.

Facts

What you need to know

- Election results are online at volusia.org/elections and flaglerelections.com. - For more information, call the Supervisor of Elections Office at 386-254-4690 in the Daytona Beach area; 386-736-5930 in West Volusia; or 386-423-3311 in the New Smyrna Beach area. In Flagler County, call 386-313-4170.

"It saves on the front end, but on the back end it takes longer to vote," said McFall.

Meanwhile, voters continued to deliver absentee ballots to the elections office right up until the 7 p.m. deadline, with 385 ballots delivered on Tuesday.

Election workers went so far as to drive to regional postal center at Lake Mary to bring in the last absentees.

“We thought there would be a lot but we brought back one little bucket,” said McFall.

As of 8 p.m., 63,756 absentee ballots were counted and 566 were rejected, 13 because of signature discrepancies, and 1,059 were returned to the elections office as undeliverable. The office mailed out 77,329 absentee ballots.

McFall said 1,100 poll workers contributed to the polling effort and the office's phone bank had 20 people at the phones. Even so, voters reported long hold times on Election Day.

A lesser factor slowing down lines at the polls was voters showing up at the wrong precinct.

Volusia County redrew its precinct lines after the 2010 Census and reduced the number of precincts from 179 precincts and 130 polling places to 125 precincts and 102 polling places. Some who hadn't voted since the last presidential election found their polling place changed.

In Flagler County the website of results crashed, but results were still in far before Volusia's.

In West Volusia, voters waited at Chisholm Community Center in DeLand, City Island Library, St. Ann's Catholic Church in DeBary, the Deltona Community Center and Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach.

Throughout the day voters flocked to the polls in Volusia and Flagler counties, after weeks of intense campaigning in the region.

Mary Norton echoed the sentiments of many other voters as she left her polling site at the Piggotte Community Center in South Daytona just before 7 p.m. "Thank God that's over."

About 200 people still waited in line at St. Ann's, which serves two precincts in DeBary, at 7:30 p.m. Voters had reported waiting in line for up to two hours. Any voter in line at 7 p.m. would be allowed to vote.

"We've been out here for about an hour and fifteen minutes, and we've got two turns to go in the line," said Chris Anselmo, standing about three-quarters of the way through the line.

Chris Higgs, 38, who lived in Ormond Lakes, used to be able to vote at his neighborhood's clubhouse, but he found out this year he'd have to go to the senior center.

“It was quick. I can't complain about that, but I just think it's a little ridiculous you can't vote in your own neighborhood,” Higgs said.

Once 7:30 p.m. rolled around, David Tucker, 48, was able to sit down and relax once the line at Prince of Peace was closed.

Tucker, who campaigned with Catholics for Romney, said he waited in line about three hours to vote and observed three fender benders in the parking lot and one fist fight.

“It was chaos earlier,” Tucker said. “People are really passionate.”

Though he's thankful people are so passionate about their country and politics, Tucker said people shouldn't be getting in fights and should just focus on voting.

At the Port Orange United Church of Christ, a voter who arrived after 6 p.m. was told the wait was about an hour.

In Deltona, some of the longest lines at 7 p.m., cutoff time, were moving fast. Matt and Jessica Cauley, a young married couple, said they waited 45 minutes and walked out of the Deltona Community Center just after 7.

When she pulled up to vote for the first time, 18-year-old Amanda Yelvington saw a line that extended beyond the door, down the sidewalk and across the parking lot.

"Oh gosh, I thought I was going to be here all night," Yelvington said. But it took her 39 minutes and 28 seconds to get through the line, she said.

With weeks of intense campaigning finally coming to a close, voters lined up early on Election Day to cast their ballots. For several hours, lines snaked around buildings and through parking lots. In some locations, voters lined up before dawn hoping to beat the rush.

"I think everyone was anxious to get there and vote," McFall said. No major problems have been

"There wasn't really much of a line," said Weeks, who visited precincts earlier in the day.

As for overall turnout, Weeks said, "it's better than it has been."

"We always have a big turnout on a presidential election. We're hoping for as good a turnout as in 2008, but it's up to the voters."

Volusia and Flagler counties are expected to play a key role in the election's outcome. And, that hasn't gone unnoticed by people flocking to the polls, and the political parties jockeying for their votes.

“I think our Floridian votes do go a little further,” said Patricia McClancy, who arrived at the Daytona Beach Regional Library on City Island before 7 a.m. to cast her ballot in the all-important presidential race as well as a variety of local races.

Amber Velazco, who recently moved to Ormond Beach from Nashville, said campaigners are more concentrated around the polling sites than she's used to.

"It's definitely different living in a swing state," Velazco, 30, said.

At the Piggotte Community Center in South Daytona, the first voter arrived at 6:20 a.m. Tuesday and the line was out the door before 7. The parking lot was full and voters were parking in the neighborhood behind the center by 7 a.m.

"I figured I'd get here early before the lines got real long, so I can get to work on time," said James Fulcher of South Daytona, who brought along a completed sample ballot so he could finish quickly.

Fred Starr was first in line at the precinct at Florence K. Little Town Hall in DeBary, when he walked up to the door at 5:45 a.m. By 7 a.m., 117 people were in line.

In New Smyrna Beach, lines had already started to form at polling places in Southeast Volusia County as the dawn broke the horizon.

“I got here at ten of six (a.m.),” said Rudy Snow of Edgewater, the first person in line at the Edgewater Community Center on Riverside Drive. “Mostly I wanted to get it done early and beat the rush.”

<p class="bold allcaps">Check back tonight for live returns</p>
<p>Long lines and electronic glitches slowed the final vote counts from Volusia County on Tuesday.</p><p>At 10:30 p.m., results from 19 precincts across the county continued to trickle in, as elections workers drove the equipment to the Supervisor of Elections Office in DeLand. </p><p>All the votes have been counted in Flagler County.</p><p>Overall it appeared turnout in both counties was down from 2008.</p><p>In Volusia, Supervisor of Elections Ann McFall said polling places that housed multiple precincts were slowed by the large turnout.</p><p>“It is what it is,” she said. “A multiple-page ballot doesn't help certainly, that's where our lag was. Our people were stressed, our system was stressed,” McFall said.</p><p>Ballot counter memory cards had to be replaced in at four voting places: At Precinct 718, Port Orange; Precinct 101, Seville; and precincts 620 and 621, Daytona Beach.</p><p>Modems in voter counters in 18 precincts were unable to connect with the county's servers, McFall said, and had to be driven to DeLand to be counted.</p><p>Another polling place's ballots, Precinct 733, in Port Orange, had to be delivered to DeLand for recounting after they were accidentally erased during an unsuccessful transmission process.</p><p>The large, combined-precinct voting places seemed to suffer the biggest vote-scanning bottleneck. </p><p>"It saves on the front end, but on the back end it takes longer to vote," said McFall.</p><p>Meanwhile, voters continued to deliver absentee ballots to the elections office right up until the 7 p.m. deadline, with 385 ballots delivered on Tuesday.</p><p>Election workers went so far as to drive to regional postal center at Lake Mary to bring in the last absentees. </p><p>“We thought there would be a lot but we brought back one little bucket,” said McFall.</p><p>As of 8 p.m., 63,756 absentee ballots were counted and 566 were rejected, 13 because of signature discrepancies, and 1,059 were returned to the elections office as undeliverable. The office mailed out 77,329 absentee ballots.</p><p>McFall said 1,100 poll workers contributed to the polling effort and the office's phone bank had 20 people at the phones. Even so, voters reported long hold times on Election Day.</p><p>A lesser factor slowing down lines at the polls was voters showing up at the wrong precinct. </p><p>Volusia County redrew its precinct lines after the 2010 Census and reduced the number of precincts from 179 precincts and 130 polling places to 125 precincts and 102 polling places. Some who hadn't voted since the last presidential election found their polling place changed.</p><p>In Flagler County the website of results crashed, but results were still in far before Volusia's.</p><p>In West Volusia, voters waited at Chisholm Community Center in DeLand, City Island Library, St. Ann's Catholic Church in DeBary, the Deltona Community Center and Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach.</p><p>Throughout the day voters flocked to the polls in Volusia and Flagler counties, after weeks of intense campaigning in the region. </p><p>Mary Norton echoed the sentiments of many other voters as she left her polling site at the Piggotte Community Center in South Daytona just before 7 p.m. "Thank God that's over."</p><p>About 200 people still waited in line at St. Ann's, which serves two precincts in DeBary, at 7:30 p.m. Voters had reported waiting in line for up to two hours. Any voter in line at 7 p.m. would be allowed to vote.</p><p>"We've been out here for about an hour and fifteen minutes, and we've got two turns to go in the line," said Chris Anselmo, standing about three-quarters of the way through the line. </p><p>Chris Higgs, 38, who lived in Ormond Lakes, used to be able to vote at his neighborhood's clubhouse, but he found out this year he'd have to go to the senior center.</p><p> </p><p>“It was quick. I can't complain about that, but I just think it's a little ridiculous you can't vote in your own neighborhood,” Higgs said.</p><p> </p><p>Once 7:30 p.m. rolled around, David Tucker, 48, was able to sit down and relax once the line at Prince of Peace was closed.</p><p> </p><p>Tucker, who campaigned with Catholics for Romney, said he waited in line about three hours to vote and observed three fender benders in the parking lot and one fist fight.</p><p> </p><p>“It was chaos earlier,” Tucker said. “People are really passionate.”</p><p> </p><p>Though he's thankful people are so passionate about their country and politics, Tucker said people shouldn't be getting in fights and should just focus on voting.</p><p>At the Port Orange United Church of Christ, a voter who arrived after 6 p.m. was told the wait was about an hour. </p><p>In Deltona, some of the longest lines at 7 p.m., cutoff time, were moving fast. Matt and Jessica Cauley, a young married couple, said they waited 45 minutes and walked out of the Deltona Community Center just after 7. </p><p>When she pulled up to vote for the first time, 18-year-old Amanda Yelvington saw a line that extended beyond the door, down the sidewalk and across the parking lot.</p><p>"Oh gosh, I thought I was going to be here all night," Yelvington said. But it took her 39 minutes and 28 seconds to get through the line, she said.</p><p>With weeks of intense campaigning finally coming to a close, voters lined up early on Election Day to cast their ballots. For several hours, lines snaked around buildings and through parking lots. In some locations, voters lined up before dawn hoping to beat the rush.</p><p>"I think everyone was anxious to get there and vote," McFall said. No major problems have been </p><p>Flagler Supervisor of Elections Kimberle Weeks said "everything seemed to move steady" Tuesday. </p><p>"There wasn't really much of a line," said Weeks, who visited precincts earlier in the day. </p><p>As for overall turnout, Weeks said, "it's better than it has been."</p><p>"We always have a big turnout on a presidential election. We're hoping for as good a turnout as in 2008, but it's up to the voters."</p><p>Volusia and Flagler counties are expected to play a key role in the election's outcome. And, that hasn't gone unnoticed by people flocking to the polls, and the political parties jockeying for their votes. </p><p> </p><p>“I think our Floridian votes do go a little further,” said Patricia McClancy, who arrived at the Daytona Beach Regional Library on City Island before 7 a.m. to cast her ballot in the all-important presidential race as well as a variety of local races. </p><p>Amber Velazco, who recently moved to Ormond Beach from Nashville, said campaigners are more concentrated around the polling sites than she's used to. </p><p>"It's definitely different living in a swing state," Velazco, 30, said.</p><p> </p><p>At the Piggotte Community Center in South Daytona, the first voter arrived at 6:20 a.m. Tuesday and the line was out the door before 7. The parking lot was full and voters were parking in the neighborhood behind the center by 7 a.m. </p><p> </p><p>"I figured I'd get here early before the lines got real long, so I can get to work on time," said James Fulcher of South Daytona, who brought along a completed sample ballot so he could finish quickly. </p><p> </p><p>Fred Starr was first in line at the precinct at Florence K. Little Town Hall in DeBary, when he walked up to the door at 5:45 a.m. By 7 a.m., 117 people were in line. </p><p> </p><p>In New Smyrna Beach, lines had already started to form at polling places in Southeast Volusia County as the dawn broke the horizon. </p><p> </p><p>“I got here at ten of six (a.m.),” said Rudy Snow of Edgewater, the first person in line at the Edgewater Community Center on Riverside Drive. “Mostly I wanted to get it done early and beat the rush.” </p><p> </p><p><i>Staff Writers Mark Lane, Patricio G. Balona, Jeffrey Cassady, Derek Catron, Anthony Defeo, John Gallas, Mark Harper, Mark I. Johnson, Nick Klasne, Bob Koslow, Katie Kustura, Mark Lane, Aaron London, Dinah Voyles Pulver and Skyler Swisher contributed to this story.</i></p>